A letter from the editor: a year of showing up

Last year was not about reinvention. It was about commitment.

About turning up – again and again – to fields, lay-bys, village halls and finish lines. About treating domestic racing not as filler between bigger things, but as something worthy of attention in its own right.

In 2025, The British Continental published 344 posts, amounting to 487,000 words of coverage. Every National A and National B road race – and more besides – was previewed and reported on, alongside comprehensive coverage of UCI races on home soil. Interviews went beyond results sheets. Analysis tried – gently but insistently – to ask what this scene needs if it’s going to survive. Our growing Stats Hub archived results and made sense of performance through rankings.

The British Continental remains a community-run project. There is no central newsroom, no production line. What exists instead is a loose, committed network of people who care deeply about this sport

Alongside race coverage, we also continued to develop the British Conti Awards – an attempt to step back at the end of the season and recognise the people, teams and performances that shape domestic road racing, beyond headline results alone. The Awards are rooted in the same principle as our reporting: that effort, context and contribution matter, and that this part of the sport deserves to be properly acknowledged.

None of this happens in isolation. Riders who pick up the phone. Organisers who answer questions late at night. Teams who are open about the realities they face. Readers who share posts, send messages, offer corrections, provide support and keep coming back. Sponsors who understand that visibility isn’t just about logos, but about sustaining a conversation.

Crucially, The British Continental remains a community-run project. There is no central newsroom, no production line. What exists instead is a loose, committed network of people who care deeply about this sport – and who have repeatedly chosen to give their time, energy and expertise to it.

At the heart of that effort is our reporter-in-chief, Joe Hudson. Joe travelled the length of the country to cover every National Road Series race last year – and much more besides – powered largely by his own volition and belief that these races matter. His reporting gave the domestic calendar a continuity and presence it too often lacks.

Alongside him, Jack Beavis has been an extraordinary voice. Through interview features and race reports, he has brought riders and races to life with rare sensitivity and depth, finding the human stories beneath the numbers.

Martyn Jepson has quietly built our Stats Hub into one of the most valuable resources in domestic road racing – a living archive that gives context, memory and meaning to what unfolds week by week.

Mark James has gone to great lengths to help photograph races that might otherwise pass undocumented, ensuring that moments – and efforts – are properly seen.

I also want to thank the many other photographers who have so generously allowed us to use their images to illustrate race reports and bring life to the scene. There are far too many to mention by name, but their work – often shared freely and in the spirit of the sport – adds depth, colour and humanity to our coverage. We are hugely grateful for that trust and generosity.

Our journal contributors, Iona Mitchell and Mattie Dodd, have brought wit, insight and perspective, shining a light on what it means to be a rider operating at the sharp but precarious lower levels of the sport.

There are also countless ad hoc contributors who cannot all be named here – people who have volunteered to report from the roadside, write previews, share local knowledge, or step in when help was needed. Pat Fotheringham, Tom Hutchison and Beth Watson are just a few examples. Collectively, they form the backbone of what we do.

It’s also worth acknowledging that our contributor base remains male-heavy. That isn’t by design, nor by preference – it reflects who has stepped forward and had the capacity to contribute. I would genuinely welcome hearing from more women and under-represented voices who might want to help shape how domestic road racing is covered, whether through writing, photography, data, or reporting from the ground.

Almost all of this work has been done for free. Not because it is easy, or convenient, but because these people care about domestic road racing and believe it deserves to be properly covered

I want to thank too the small group of dedicated of individuals who have supported us financially through Ko-fi. Those contributions make a tangible difference – helping cover practical costs – but just as importantly, they offer enormous moral support. Knowing that people value this work enough to back it with their own money means a great deal.

Almost all of this work has been done for free. Not because it is easy, or convenient, but because these people care about domestic road racing and believe it deserves to be properly covered. Without them, The British Continental would not exist, at least not in its current form.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the backing of our title sponsor, Rapha. Their support enabled us to pay the bills, travel to races, help compensate contributors, and sustain the breadth and depth of coverage that defined last year.

Working with Rapha, we also helped bring the Rapha Super‑League to life – an innovative attempt to connect key races across the season and tell a coherent, unfolding story rather than a series of isolated results.

Alongside the written coverage, we continued to develop The British Continental podcast – albeit sporadically – as a space for longer-form conversation — for context, reflection, and voices that don’t always fit neatly into race reports.

The numbers matter – hundreds of thousands of website views, a growing Stats Hub, and an engaged audience across Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and WhatsApp – but they only mean something because of what sits behind them: trust, habit, and a shared sense that this corner of the sport is worth paying attention to.

We’ll be launching a formal supporters scheme for those who want to help sustain this work – and help ensure that the stories, history and texture of the domestic scene continue to be properly documented

As I look ahead to 2026, I’m actively reviewing how we cover domestic racing. The aim is not to do less for the sake of it, but to build a model that is sustainable for the team – one that avoids burn-out and allows us to keep showing up, while continuing to support the scene as much as we can, for as long as we can.

Domestic road racing in Britain remains fragile. That hasn’t changed. But neither has the value of careful, consistent storytelling – of being present, of listening, of recording what happens while it’s happening.

In the coming weeks, we’ll also be launching a formal supporters scheme for those who want to help sustain this work – and help ensure that the stories, history and texture of the domestic scene continue to be properly documented.

That is what last year was about. And it is what we will keep doing in 2026.

Thank you for reading.

Denny Gray
Founder & Editor, The British Continental